Officials at Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) said they have no intentions of eliminating jobs in the wake of an Easter Sunday accident that left one worker dead, and the investigators could know by next week what caused the accident.

“We are being very judicious with our process,” site vice president Jeremy Browning said. “At this point, Entergy is committed to restarting both nuclear reactor units.”

The company’s most senior leadership is behind this decision, he said.

“OSHA is involved and on site,” Browning said. “It has senior representatives here following their process and conducting their own investigation. We are 100 percent transparent with them.”

Diesel generators are providing supplemental power while the reactors are not in operation. ANO officials are uncertain how long the generators will be used to provide essential electricity.

“Both reactor units remain in a cold shutdown condition,” Browning said. “There has been no impact to reactor one. Reactor two was an automatic shutdown.

“Electrical distribution systems on non-safety buses is what was affected. What happened to the electricity is under investigation. It was possibly the stator impact vibration which caused the shutdown of Unit 2. This is the most probable cause. The two diesel generators supplying power to Unit 1 are operating to secure power, Efforts to restore power to Unit 1 will continue until approximately next week sometime. The variables are very manageable.”

ANO has a replacement generator stator, which is being stored off site. The company was in the process of removing the old stator when the accident happened. The replacement is ready to go.

“We have another stator that is in perfect health,” Browning said. “The other stator came from the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant located in Michigan. The Michigan plant and its resources belongs to Entergy. It has been refurbished and is good as new. It is in a storage facility near the plant, and we will install it once the old one is out safely.

Professionals in the power industry are stepping up to help ANO during its recovery process. Competition between companies has taken a back seat, Browning said.

“People are coming in from the fleet and others in the industry have offered and provided their support,” ANO communications specialist Donna Gregory said. “What happens to one of us, happens to all of us.”

Gregory did confirm that repairs to the building where the stator impact took place would have to be performed before the new stator is installed.

The technical side of the recent catastrophe is of great concern to Browning. But the loss of life and the safety of employees is something he said he takes personally.

“I want the public to understand that the most important consideration is the loss of life,” Browning said. “This happened at a station I am responsible for. That is heartfelt.That weighs on me heavier than anything else.”

Approximately 1,000 employees were on site at the time of the accident. Fifty to 100 were in the vicinity of the building housing the generator stator when the rigging failed.